Spikeopath Written and directed by Hadi Hajaig, Puritan stars Nick Moran, Georgina Rylance, Pete Hodge, David Soul and Ralph Brown. Music is by Simon Lambros and cinematography is by Peter Ellmore.Simon Puritan (Moran) is a medium in the East End of London. Tormented by the bad cards life has dealt him, he's become a alcoholic and battles with migraine headaches. When his latest client introduces him to Ann Bridges (Rylance), it spins his life onto another plane.Low on budget it may be, but Hadi Hajaig's movie has style and atmosphere to burn. Though set in modern London, Hajaig pitches Simon Puritan into a Gothic flavoured world. It's world where the spectres of Jack the Ripper and Aleister Crowley dwell, where architecture is by Nicholas Hawksmoore. Then the director fills this eerie backdrop with shadows and filtered light, enhancing the blood reds and the deathly blacks for maximum impact. There's the distinct whiff of the supernatural as Puritan finds himself in classic film noir territory.The plot is deliberately labyrinthine as intriguing characters wander in to further cloud Puritan's perception. Some of the means and motives of the main players are at first glance murky, but as the makers blend genres, as Simon tries to crawl out from what is now a vortex of crime and dishonesty, it pieces together with a devilish glint in its eye. Ambiguities are one of the film's strengths, they drag us the viewers into Simon's confused state of mind, whilst simultaneously keeping us hooked into this most interesting and visually stunning picture.Performances are only OK and the sound mix is sadly poor at times, but I'm convinced this would be better known and rated if more fans of noir could see it. 8/10

peertwo This is a pretty poor film. An overt enthusiasm for poor lighting (no, everything in high contrast red, or black& white isn't clever, its just difficult to watch). A slooooooow script (not a aged wine, but a bottle of gone-off alco-pop) A script that makes no sense. The twist (of which about 3 tolerable ones were discarded for the most inconsistent). Don't waste your money or your time.***SPOILER***He goes back from the past to stop himself falling in love with a beautiful woman, who'll make him rich, but due to his own stupidity, tells himself she's bad and gets him burnt (and still gets the girl, the love and the money !!) If he'd had said, done stand near the caravan he'd have been OK. Oh, and he makes a girl kill her boyfriend and Aleister Crowley think he's a magician (those last bits tagged on to be 'clever').Its "Donnie Darko" / Butterfly effect, but without a coherent script. A real wasted opportunity.

lilithblack69 I think most of the reviewers on this site must have seen a different film to me as this is just a lame film noir tarted up with the odd mention of Hawksmoor and Crowley (mispronounced in the film). The Alan Moore/"From Hell" comparisons are totally unjustified, except in the rather simplistic thinks-it's-much-clever-than-it-is ending.The film is far too dark - almost everything is shot in red and black - the characters are dull and the story predictable. I had high hopes for this as a genuinely uneasy and different Brit flick (hell - just give me anything that doesn't have gangsters) but all the occult stuff is just window-dressing for what's actually a very straightforward film. Yes, it apes the mise-en-scene of "From Hell" - dabbles with its themes of cyclic time - and even has a lead character who could be Constantine from the "Hellblazer" comics - but it has none of the sophistication of Alan Moore's writing. Like I say, it wasn't lousy; it just wasn't a patch on how it had been advertised...

festerinfrank I am yet another one of the fans from the Frightfest Film Festival, saw Puritan on Monday, and it blew me away.It looks like a Victorian film, dark and shadowy, and has all the elements of DC's Vertigo comics.All those Alan Moore adaptations we have had that have hit the big screen have been truly dire, but this film, obviously not written by Moore but newcomer Hadi Hajaig, is the kind of film that has the feel of those graphic novels.Its intricate in its design, gorgeous in its mise en scene, and devilishly clever in its final act delivery.The cast are cool, Moran who acted in lock stock, a film i did not enjoy at all, was excellent, David Soul was sooo good as the menacing self help guru, but it is the new talent that is Georgina Rylance that steals their thunder, she is like a more beautiful Kristin Scott Thomas.If I had any criticism it is that it didn't explain itself enough at the end, but I guess that is a good thing as we can try to mull over all the various plot details.A great shot in the arm for the Independent British Film industry, who only seem to make moronic gangster films. It really inspired me.